Citizen review

Citizen review, also called civilian review, mechanism whereby alleged misconduct by local police forces may be independently investigated by representatives of the civilian population. Citizen review boards generally operate independently of the courts and other law-enforcement agencies.

Development in the United States

Among the first citizen review boards in the United States were those established in Philadelphia and New York City in the late 1950s and ’60s. The Philadelphia board operated intermittently from 1958 to 1967. During that period it recommended punitive sanctions against police officers in only 6 percent of the cases it reviewed. However, for much of its existence, the board was unable to hold hearings because of pending court decisions. The Philadelphia lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police filed several lawsuits against it, and in 1966 it won a suit that idled the board for nearly two and a half years while the case was being appealed. In the end, opposition from the police union proved too difficult to overcome. Inadequate staffing, lack of funding, and the inability to hold hearings for so long led the board to eventually disband.

New York City Mayor John Lindsay established the Civilian Complaint Review Board in July 1966. Its life span was even shorter than that of its Philadelphia counterpart. The board survived for only four months and was abolished by a public vote in November, yet in that period it received 422 complaints, more than twice the number reported to the internal police review board in a single year. As in Philadelphia, the New York board was unable to overcome hostility from the union representing rank-and-file police officers.

The failure of citizen review in those two cities discouraged the adoption of citizen review agencies throughout the country. Efforts were renewed in the early 1970s, but, in the face of political pressure and bitter opposition by police and their unions, most citizen review mechanisms were short-lived. For more than a decade it appeared as if police opposition would prevent the expansion of external review mechanisms beyond those provided through conventional means, such as county, state, or federal courts.

Beginning in the 1980s, however, citizen review agencies were established in many major American cities. In the 1990s the number of citizen review boards in the United States increased dramatically, with 36 of the 50 largest cities having such boards by the end of the decade. Incidents such as the beating of Rodney King, an African American motorist, by Los Angeles police in 1991 (seeLos Angeles riots of 1992) drew the public’s attention to the problem of police brutality and led to demands for civilian review. More elected mayors and city council members also came to believe that civilian review was an appropriate way to handle citizen complaints about police misconduct. By 2015 the number of citizen review agencies in the country had risen to more than 200. That rapid growth resulted not only from growing public concern over the use of excessive force by police officers but also from the gradual weakening of police unions, which had consistently opposed such boards in the past.

Arguments for and against citizen review

Advocates of citizen review claim that its primary benefit is that it helps to restore public faith and trust in the police in communities in which such confidence has been damaged as a result of police misconduct or for other reasons. They also argue that it makes the complaint process more accessible and effective. Civilians tend to be intimidated by police officers, and those who attempt to complain often feel that they are not taken seriously. If complainants are interviewed by civilians, according to citizen review advocates, they will be more at ease and more open about their concerns. And if people are generally comfortable with the process, more of them will come forward with their complaints.

In jurisdictions where police officers and police unions have resisted citizen review, they have argued that it prevents effective law enforcement in two ways: by unfairly accusing or punishing police officers who are not guilty of misconduct and by discouraging efficient performance in officers who fear being taken to task by the board. Police chiefs have also resisted citizen review in the belief that it undermines their authority. Some think that if they have to share their disciplinary powers, the rest of their authority will also erode, because officers will not respect their decisions on other policy issues.

Another common argument against citizen review is that, because police work is a profession, only those who actually practice it are capable of judging how well it is performed. In other words, citizen review bodies will tend to be unduly harsh because they do not understand the nature of the job. Police unions have also claimed that citizen review will contribute to police-community hostility by emphasizing isolated negative acts by the police. Because the boards focus on misconduct, they will not recognize or publicize what the police are doing well. The result, it is argued, will be further distrust of the police, which will only hamper their ability to fight crime.

Still others argue that there is no need for citizen review boards because they only duplicate existing remedies, including internal review mechanisms, civil litigation, criminal litigation, and investigations by the press.